Its been a while

Also check out this collection of signs by homeless people. http://www.holytaco.com/25-awsome-homeless-guy-signs

Your not so adorable update

This morning I checked my blogger account for the first time in three weeks. My two best friends growing up (or to be fair their wives) had posted the most adorable blogs. Ryan has a brand new bulldog puppy, I have wanted a bulldog for years now, and Justin has a video of his daughter signing “I can’t wait for daddy to get home.” How can you compete with that! Yet, I feel that I have left you in the dark long enough. So here is your not-so-adorable update.

I spent the first part of my summer working in a small law firm in Saint George. It was a unique experience. I learned a lot about the law and the nuts and bolts of being a lawyer. I was surprised to see how difficult it can be to get clients to actually pay their attorney fees, and happy to see that attorneys who don’t work a bijillion hours a week still exist. The people I worked with were great - definitely the best part of the job. During the last week of work the niece of the old grizzled attorney in the firm backed into my car. I got to spend a good part of the next day with the partner. He taught me a lot and shared some pretty crazy stories. This is probably my favorite:

When he was 19 or so he got called on a mission to Argentina. Due to travel visa problems he got reassigned to a state side English speaking mission. He wasn’t about to accept that so he got on the phone and called the missionary director, Gordon B. Hinckley. He was a little fuzzy on the details but at the end of the conversation he told the future prophet to “Go to hell.” Surprisingly, my future boss got his way and was ultimately sent to Argentina. Some 10 years later he was at a dinner party where he ran into President Hinckley. When they were reintroduced the prophet just cracked a smile and in a smart allecky tone said, “I believe we have met before.”

I got a long really well with this partner and others. But was ready for something new when the 6 week internship was up. My last day was on a Friday and 2 days later I headed over to the district court. I love the court but they were not ready to receive me. They didn’t have enough computers so I just computer squatted the entire time I was there. I started off down in the holding cells where the probation officers work. I figured it would be a great gig because the probation officers are out on duty during the day. But the officers threw a hissy fit and I was relocated back up stairs to fight for a seat with all the scheduling clerks.

My favorite person at the Court was Judge Ludlow. I partly liked him because was really the only other Cougar fan. The other 2 judges and the majority of the employees went to the University of Utah. Judge Ludlow typically would come to work in a t-shirt and basketball pants and basket shoes. When he went into his courtroom he would always go through a backdoor, and accordingly the audience and attorneys could only see him from the waist up. So he did the natural thing he put on a white shirt and tie but continued wearing his basketball attire from the waist down.

My favorite experience with Judge Ludlow happened on my second to the last day. Judge Ludlow was doing arraignments, where he the prosecutor, and the defense attorneys blow through 50 or so cases in about an hour’s time. It is really quite remarkable how these men can keep all their cases straight. Anyway, about half way through the Judge asks the defense attorneys, “did you ever get that mental evaluation from Adam Tate?” The poor attorneys were confused out of their minds and for the next 15 minutes were trying to figure out who this Adam Tate guy was and why they needed a psychiatric evaluation. It took all my self control to not bust up laughing in the middle of court.

But my favorite part of working in the court was drug court. It was fun. St. George apparently has a real drug problem, and there are hundreds of people on probation for drug violations. The city gathered all these people and created this program which would help people get sober. Once a week they all had to come before the Court and if they screwed up the Judge would reprimand them and make them do jail time of community service. It was a lot of fun to sit in the court room with 100 or so druggies and listen to people explain why they had police contact, etc. If they had good news such as they found a job, or they had gone sober for so long everyone gave a round of applause. When someone graduated from the program they would get up and give a motivational speech. When someone lied to the judge he would yell at them and take them away in cuffs in front of all their friends. They really could make a TV show out of Drug Court.

After 6 weeks of being at the Court my internship was over. St George was a good place. I was a little lonely being there. Most of the kids in my ward were 19-21 and had no idea what they were doing with their lives, so I didn’t really connect with them. Meanwhile the high councilor in the ward was trying to get me to marry any girl who had a pulse. My last week there he actually set me up on a date with a pretty cool girl. During the whole date I couldn’t help but thinking, why didn’t he set me up 12 weeks ago.

Living with grandma and grandpa had its advantages. I got free rent, grandma and grandpa were usually too old / lazy to want and go down the stairs to where I lived so I got an entire floor to myself, and Grandma was always trying to feed me. I like to think I wasn’t a complete waste of space as well. My biggest accomplishment was convincing them to sell their RV which they never use.

Although I enjoyed St. George I was glad to come back to California. Ironically enough it seems as soon I got home my dad’s work hired me and sent me on a business trip in Utah. Im not complaining. The job will provide me with some much needed money, and since the job hunt is going so slowly its not like I need the time to for interviews. On a side note I have gone a week since shaving, I figure that I might not get another opportunity for a while. I decided on a mustache, a ghoatee, and mutton chops. I know its not the best look, but its mildly amusing.

I go back to provo on Saturday to start my law review and moot court training. Truth be told im kind of dreading school. I haven’t had much of a break and I am afraid I am going to burn out. But it will be nice to see all my friends and to make some new friends this next school year. Anyway, this is a pretty long blog entry. I just felt I should give everyone an update. I also wanted to say goodbye to one my few readers Ariel and wish her luck on her mission.

Mike

So one of the partners in my law firm is incredibly interesting. Let me recount some of the things he said or did just on friday.

He comes up stairs to where his secretary works (which is right by my desk), his secretary wasn't there and so he yells "Crap on rollerskates!" and storms away.

He tells me about how he was once suspected to be the largest cocaine dealer in Utah.

He tells me about a case where he won a bunch of land that the church wanted in a law suit. he had to wear a bullet proof vest to court because the mormons were so violent. He then calls up Gordon B. Hinckley and agrees to give up the land for a picture with him and Gordon B. Hinckley and a caption which reads "The church of Jesus Christ graciously accepts this land from Mike." The church unfortunately declined.

He tells me that a couple of days before he turned in his mission papers (back when he was mormon) he told Gordon B. Hinckley to "Go to Hell"

He sees this goergous woman but is too busy to talk to her so he jots down her license plate. Then in a joking manner he tells another partner in the firm to start the paper work for a restraining order. He wanted the paper work to include a picture of the woman and a caption "can you really blame me?"

He tells me that Golf is the most important class to take in law school.

I see him at the golf course with some other woman 25 years younger than him, and he is wearing the type of sunscreen that is all white. I didn't even recognize him till he called my name. (this was actually on Saturday)

Top meals under a dollar

1. The Spicy Chicken Sandwich - Carls Jr - Carl's jr doesn't have a dollar menu. All of their sandwiches are huge. Including this one. It may not be the best tasting one on the list but its definetly the best value. *BYU ticket stubbs often have coupons that will give you free fries and a drink with a sandwich. This sandwich counts!

2. 2 tacos - Jack in the Box - This was the staple of my diet in Highschool. For $3 you could have 6 tacos and be completely full. They are so greasy and nasty looking but so good.

3. Grilled chicken burrito - Taco Bell - This might just be a special and not a regular item. But the taco bell near my work is selling these great full sized chicken burritos for 99 cents.

4. Rodeo Burger - Burger King - Sadly my Burger King in St George doesn't sell these. They are basically mini western cheeseburgers only without bacon.

5. Chicken soft taco - Dell Taco - the smallest but the best tasting thing on this list. The white sauce is great.

6. Cheezy double beef burrito - Taco Bell - the opposite of the chicken soft taco. Not much taste but a ton of beef for less than a dollar.

7. Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger - Wendy's - This would be a lot higher up if it hadn't have strunk dramatically in the last 5 years. I get mad everytime i buy one.

8. Breakfast Jack - Jack in the Box - only place you can get a breakfast sandwich any time of the day for less than a dollar.

9. Jumbo Jack - Jack in the Box - If you are going to get just a plain ole burger for 99 cents it might as well be this one.

10 Chicken Nuggets- everywhere - most places have a 4 or 6 piece chicken nugget option. They all taste the same to me...delicious.

MORE STOLEN PICS

I am a dog replacement

Well typically I dont enjoy writing about my life.   However, i am getting pestered by people wanting to know whats going on with my life.  So to silence some of the mob I will give you a quick update.

I am a dog replacement.

I am living in my grandparents basement in St. George Utah.  Its really nice and I am really enjoying myself.  I say I am a dog replacement because my grandparents dog and best friend died about 2 days after my arival.  With my grandpa not remembering things well and my grandma being for frustrated with it than he is, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that they spent more time with the dog than with each other.  Grandpa would take it for a walk everymoring to help deliver newspapers and then the dog would tag beside grandma for the rest of the day.  Understandably, my already lonely grandparents are struggling with out the dog.  It is a good thing that I am here.  Although i did feel wierd when my gradma made me where the flashlight that attaches to the dog's collar when i went for my midnight bike ride.

It seems that when you are old not much changes in your life.  My grandma was telling me this morning that she has nothing left to accomplish and in not so many words said she is just waiting for her and grandpa to die.  Anyway, since they don't do much Grandma loves to tell stories and play the "remember when" game.  Well with grandpa not able to remember anything anymore she doesn't get to play all that often.  Now it seems every day when i come home I get a 45 minute story about her grandparents, the great depression, or stories about my parents.  It is funny how she is brutally honest and says incriminating things about my parents and my aunts and uncles as if the family secrets were common knowledge.

I am a wanna-be lawyer

My work is good.  I work for a small firm of 7 attorneys and 5 secretaries (and me).  For the most part I am the gopher and spend most of my time doing research and answering questions for the attorneys.  For instance on Wednesday one of the partners came up to me and asked "One of our client's home used to a methlab, but he restored it.  He is trying to sell it does he have to disclose anything?"  So I go do some research and prepare a small memo stating what the law is on methlab decontamination.  

Yesterday I got to do the most exciting thing i have done so far.  I prepared something that was actually submitted to court and the attorneys are going to argue about it in Court.  This probably doesn't seem to exciting to anyone else, but it was neat to know that my work product will actually affect someone's life for the better or the worse.  

I am out of shape

Last night I went for a long bike ride.  I duct taped a flashlight to my grandpa's bike and just took off.  I headed towards some bluffs out in the distance and once I passed them I kept on going until i ran out of road.  I really enjoyed the midnight bike ride its nice and cool but not cold and it gives me time to think about things not law related.  Last night I created a health program for myself (and anyone who wants to do it with me) where the goal is trying to get rid of bad habits (drinking soda, eating fastfood, eating junkfood) and replace them with good habits (drinking water, eating a good breakfast, eating fruits and vegatables)  Every day i get a crap-food score and a good food score, I also keep track of how often I exercise.  Its not a very intense program but I am morally opposed to diets so I am trying to change myself permamently.  I was 193 during finals but have dropped down to 187 now that i can actually exercise again, the goal is to reach down to 175 and then get back to 185 but in a different form.  We will see how it all goes.

I a little lost

I am used to having lots of good friends around.  While most of my friends left last summer I still had enough friends around to stay somewhat social.  Plus i had roommates to banter with.  Well i havent had the opportunity to go to my new ward and so the only people i have met are my co-workers.  I like them but they are all older and have 3+ kids so i dont see my self hanging out with them anytime soon.  I like my grandparents but again playing card games and talking is about as much as I am going to do with them.  Which by the way my grandpa with a mild form of altismers destroyed me, my uncle, and my grandma in both card games we played last night.  It wasn't even close it was embarrasing.  

Im sure i will meet some people at my ward tomorrow and I will probably get so absorbed in my work that if I dont i wont care.  But this week has been interesting.  For the first time since i was in elementary school I have been going to the library for fun.  I listened to Ender's Game on the car ride up here and have started reading the sequel.  I also come to the library because it has highspeed internet (my grandparents have dial up) although they have facebook blocked.  I plan on doing some hiking and exploring, but its hot and its kind of lame to do it by yourself.  Still there are some hikes I really want to do.

I am sorry i wrote this much

Wow this blog entry was probably way more than anyone wanted to know.  But if you actually made it this far (which im expecting 1 of you will) you get a glimpse into what is going on my life.  If you have questions give me a call or post a comment.

traditional randomness

Watch Disney Templates and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

I'm lame and I know it.

Nice hook huh?  Im actually just apoligizing for neglecting my blog.  Law school is kicking my trash.  I have thought about somethings to write about when if i ever have time again.

I have been wanting to write an entry about the humorous cases i have read this year.  This last couple of weeks my contracts class has provided me with two cases that are just golden.

The Hooters case:  The restraraunt chain hooters (which has surprisingly good hot wings by the way.  Not that im a regular or anything) had a nationwide competition amongst the waitresses.  The girl who could sell the most beer in the month would get a brand new Toyota.  Come months end they blindfold the winner and escorted her to the parkinglot where they gave her a brand new star wars figurine - a toy yoda.  She sued to get a car.

The hand case:  A man got seriously burned on the palm of his hand.  The doctor reassured him that they could easily graft some of his extra skin from his chest on to his palm.  The surgery was a success.  That is until a couple of days latter his palm started growing chest hair.  He sued for his money back.

I also read a case while working on my big paper on defamation that was entertaining.  Two sons published an article about their dad refering to him as a "pimp."  The father not liking the reference sued for defamation.  The court decided as a matter of law that he was in fact a pimp.

I also have been wanting to write about all the things that have happened in sports but i still dont have time so here is the recap:

My bracket sucked

The broncos actually came out ahead even though they acted incredibly stupidly

Im glad hansbrough got his championship but would have rather have seen the city of detriot have something good happen to it

The par three competition of the masters is more enjoyable to watch than the masters itself.  What could beet seeing palmer and other greats shoot 2-5 under?

Bynum is back baby!

If the lakers are still a game behind cleveland when we play the jazz we should throw the game to make sure we play dallas the first round

The 49ers (gods team)  draft wishlist should be smith, monroe, crabtree, raji, in that order.  If they draft sanchez im going to be mad.

I really can't get excited about baseball but go angels.  And i also like Manny on the dodgers

The bigging of the benfolds 5 song "Effington" starts with "if there is a god he is laughing at us and our football team" this is how i feel about max hall.

To any undergrads who read this, take advantage of awesome internships.  Lots of really cool companies have awesome internships that you can apply to no matter what the major.  Go work for espn for a summer.

Well thats all for now.  I actually just intended to write im sorry, but got carried away.  Finals end on the 23rd, but then i have a week long tryout for law review.  I will try to write something on a sunday though since i dont study on the sabbath.  Good bye for now.

"Just ignore him and he will go away."

"Just ignore him and he will go away."  This was the counsel my father echoed to my younger siblings as I teased and tormented them.  I have been forced to look back on this advice as my religion has become more and more prominent in the media (and not in a good way.)  HBO will be claims to be showing our temple ceremony on their program "Big Love" this weekend.  And my two cents are, who cares?  Obviously if given a choice, i would rather they not.  But if the world is expecting some catestrophic amazing revelation they are going to be awfully dissapointed when they see a simple story about Adam and Eve.  Here is the church's official statement counseling that the best thing we can do is to simply not get upset.

SALT LAKE CITY 9 March 2009 Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.

As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.

Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.

Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.

Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church. 

Examples:

• During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.
• When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.
• When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.
• In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.

Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.

If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

More stolen pics

Sorry i havent had time to post anything more creative.  Law school has been dominating my life.

Stanley's cup

Well its often a horrible show, but I still hold that South Park is so much more cleaver than anything else on TV.  Here is my favorite episode, its mostly clean.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103802

Videos

I realized i never post videos... here are some.

Wierd French Music Video about Coffee: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6jluj_le-cafe-oldelaf-english-subtitles_music

Mockery of college advertisements: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1812947

LDS Proposals http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1802919

Chewy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIV8jHnfwP8

Chicken's break up a rabbit fight! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVb3t560oY

Mentos commercial http://www.break.com/index/mentos-boosts-your-confidence-with-ladies.html

SNL "Im on a boat"  music video (http://www.hulu.com/watch/56632/saturday-night-live-digital-short-im-on-a-boat

Star wars retold http://vimeo.com/2809991?pg=embed&sec=2809991

South park saves the internet http://gizmodo.com/381088/how-to-fix-the-internet-according-to-south-park?autoplay=true

Pelican eats a pigeon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO5ifLzLYiU

Hockey Fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ww--j17sE

Facebook in real life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrlSkU0TFLs

Goats!

The Evolution of the Superbowl Party

For the last couple of years the superbowl party has gotten better each and every year.  This is largely due to an increased organization and the ability to learn for the years past.  Last year we executed our party to near perfection.  Anyway I thought it would be amusing to chronicle the last few years.

2006 - Although we had previously had superbowl parties this was really the birth of the superbowl committee.  We really didn't know what we were doing, and we invited everyone who wanted to come to join the committee process.  The result, as you might imagine, was 12-13 guys crammed into a living room arguing for 2 hours over what tastes better: shrimp or bagel bites.  We were loud, unproductive, and argumentative, but it was the begining of something  wonderful.  Probably the best part of the commitee was when some girls came up to visit; they had been assigned to teach people the 7 pitfalls of dating.  It was classic these 2 girls teaching 13 very roudy guys about why relationships don't work.  The last part of their lessons was about when one of the persons has underlying emotional or mental problems.  It was a riot to hear our running commentary.  To make it even better I had had a fling with one of the girls teaching the lesson, she had just gotten engaged and had violated at least 4 of the rules she was teaching us.  Classic. (It would appear that the pitfalls aren't really affecting her marraige she has a kid now)

Superbowl MVP: Seth - the candy he brought was great.  We had too much greasy food and it was nice to be able to munch on something.

Superbowl Bust: Me - my chicken wings didn't get cooked well enough.

2007 - This year the committee went much smoother.  We ran into the problem of having way too much frozen stuff and not enough ovens to cook it all.  Also, our popularity at Roman Gardens was causing problems.  We had too many people who wanted to attend the day of the superbowl.  But rules are rules and if they didn't pay their dues they were not getting in.  At one point this poor girl knocked on the door.  Someone yelled "who is it?" to which I callously responded "Who cares! Everbody important is already here!"  Then we laughed and laughed and laughed.  I have often thought of how this would play out at a family reunion if my uncle knocked on the door and we laughed at him until he left.  

MVP -Mark - For the idea of bringing icecream

Superbowl Bust - Skyler  - for birnging 4 bags of sour cream and onion chips: we only ate half a bag of that nasty stuff.  

2008 - We got it right.  We hit a stroke of genious and started bringing fruit and vegatables to counter balance all the crap we were eating.  Dyson pulled through and brought a ton of pizza from little ceasers.  But by far the best thing to eat, chicken wraped in bacon.  Yep it was pretty much perfect, although the commitee was starting to get out of control with ideas like having a gift exchange and arguing about if the Superbowl is better than Christmas (its not!)

MVP - Drew - for the homemade food.

Bust - Dyson - for yelling an increadibly loud and awkward comment.  Looking back it was awesome but at the time it just made people uneasy.

2009 - This year I think we got the committee process down.  Just four of us got together and made executive decisions and then distributed assignments to the rest.  This year will be different than in years past due to the presence of women.  Usually it's just Courtney and Deanna who are brave enough to handle the roudy guys.  But one of my new years resolutions was to start bringing a date or a good friend of the feminine sex anytime I attend an activity with several couples (im tired of being the odd man out) and so I told the group im bringing a friend.  To which Dyson replied that he was too, Kyle had already invited some girls, Matt and Mark have better halves, and courtney always comes.  Only afterword did i realize the problem of bringing a nice girl to experience such gluttony and debachery.  Luckily I found a pretty girl who is awesome enough to handle it (I know your reading this).  I am looking forward to Sunday!

Here is the menu for Sunday.

Pep + sausage pizza

Hawaiin pizza
Pepperoni pizza
Supreme pizza
Buffalo Wings
3 bags of tortilla chips 
4 bags of flavored chips
7 Layer bean dip
Chili Cheese Dip
Veggie tray
Fruit tray
Costco wraps
Pepsi, 
Mtn Dew, 
Root beer,
Dr. Pepper
Diet Coke, 
Lemonade 
Ice 
Cookies
Brownies
Banana Bread
Cheesecake
Donuts
Lil Smokies
Onion Rings
Taquitos

More random pics stolen for Digg users

Why the oath for VP is longer.

As I watched the inaguration today I couldn't help to notice that Joe Biden's oath was significantly larger than President Obamas.

 

Vice President:

I, ____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God

President:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

So i went home and did a little research and figured out why.  The president recites the oath as written in the Constitution of the United States.  However, the constitution does not require the Vice President to take any oath whatsoever.  Over the years the vice presidents have used different oaths and currently use the same oath as Senators, house representatives, and other governmental officials.

My constitutional law teacher (and google) were happy to provide some other little tidbits about todays events.  

It wasn't President Obama's fault for stumbling during the oath.  The Cheif Justice John Roberts actually said it wrong; President Obama who had memorized the oath was justly confused.  Some experts argue that the President must redo the oath to so he could say it correctly.

As young as John Roberts seems he is actually older than President Obama.  He is also the first Chief Justice to swear in a President when the President had voted against the Justice's confirmation.

The Second most senior justice of the Supreme Court is given the honor of swearing in the vice president.  In our case this is Justice Stevens.  Justice Stevens has actually been in the court the longest but by law the Chief Justice is considered the most senior justice.

The constitution sets forth that the President becomes president at noon with or without the oath.  The constitution also mandates that the President must give an oath.  It would be an interesting constitutional law question if the President just refused to take the oath.

Many Presidents (including our current president) end their oath by saying "So help me God" this isn't required by law.

President Obama used the same Bible that Abraham Lincon used to swear in.  (That thing was huge!)  The president isn't required to swear on the bible or even swear ( he can say "I affirm")

President Obama wrongly stated that he was the 44th person to be sworn into this office.  This is technically incorrect, Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th President.  Accordingly, Obama is the the 43rd person to be sworn into office.

Anyway, the whole thing was very touching.  Regardless of what you think about American Politics, it is truly remarkable that the most powerful country in the world can have such a peaceful transition of power.  

Sidewalk Chalk

Wow. Serious skills with chalk.